Central dictation systems are well known and are a convenient and efficient way of arranging for the transcription of dictated information and producing corresponding documents in organizations that have numerous users who have need of transcription services. Central dictation systems are particularly common in hospitals and other large medical facilities, because the great value of the doctors' time requires that documentation be produced as efficiently as possible.
With central dictation systems, a user dictates data into an input station, whereby the voice message is transmitted to a central server, which assigns a job number and other identifying characteristics to the dictated information. Usually the user enters identifying information such as a user i.d. number, a file number, a patient number and so forth. This may be done via a keypad at the input station and/or by scanning a bar code with a bar code reading wand attached to the input station. The raw data is then transmitted to a dictation queue, where it awaits transcription. After the document is transcribed, a message is returned to the user reporting that the document has been completed and the number by which the document can be accessed.
Many hospitals also have a radiology information system. The function of a radiology information system is to keep track of x-ray examinations, CAT scans and other radiological procedures prescribed by attending physicians. After each procedure is complete, the resulting films or other images are reviewed by a radiologist, who dictates a report into the central dictation system. When the report is transcribed, the transcribed document is stored in the radiology information system and made available to the attending physician. The radiology information system assigns a transaction or “accession” number to each examination. The accession number is used to keep track of the x-rays themselves and the status of the examination and of the corresponding radiologist's report.
It has been known to provide a software interface between radiology information systems and central dictation systems to aid in transferring accession numbers and other information between the two systems. Other forms of cooperation between the two systems are also desirable. While the dictated report is in the queue awaiting transcription, the radiologist should be able to obtain information regarding its status, and should be able to dictate additional data regarding a particular patient under a new but related accession number. The radiologist should also be able to obtain information regarding the status of a document and related accession numbers.
Although the central dictation and radiology information systems function well independently, the current state of interfaces between the two systems leaves something to be desired. This is in part due to the limited storage capacity of the combined system.
It would be advantageous if the storage capacities of the central dictation system and radiology information system were increased.
It would also be desirable to improve error diagnosis features of software provided as an interface between the radiology information system and the dictation system.
Also, some radiology information systems disconnect from the interface at the end of each transaction. With known client-server socket protocols, this creates a large processing overhead for frequently instantiating and destroying server socket objects.